CHAPTER XIX 



THE USE AND ABUSE OF BEARING-REINS 



875. The American overhead check-rein (P. 

 141, 142e) is, I consider, a brutal and injurious 

 appliance, and is most certainly in opposition to 

 the correct driving of a properly mouthed horse. 



It causes the horse to point his nose, to 

 become ewe-necked, and to hold the bit in the 

 corners of the mouth instead of against the bars ; 

 in fact, it ruins the horse's mouth in every way. 

 It is absolutely impossible with its use to mouth 

 a horse ; consequently, it is not surprising to 

 find that most buggy horses have no " mouths." 

 Apart from this, the overhead check-rein causes 

 various diseases. (See Sec. 883.) 



It was introduced into England, but, in the 

 few instances that were discovered, the users 

 were prosecuted, because the R.S.P.C.A. re- 

 garded its use as cruel. 



876. The check was invented for the trotter 

 and pacer on the race track, and used with the 

 idea of supporting the horse's forehand while in 

 motion, similar to the way that a flat-race jockey 

 holds on to his horse's mouth, and also to pre- 

 vent a horse's head being drawn towards its 

 chest when the driver stops it from " breaking." 

 I have officiated on some of the large race tracks 

 on the American continent, and I have always 

 noticed that the overhead check is removed from 

 the back pad immediately the race is over. It 

 is not used for show or fashion, and the horse is 

 not left standing for hours with his head 

 checked up, as private carriage horses often 

 are. 



If, from the commencement of a horse's train- 

 ing, the driver supports its forehand with the 

 reins, and not the overhead check, there is no 

 doubt that the race-check could be dispensed 

 with in many cases. This has been tried by 

 many large racehorse owners in America with 

 very successful results. To tie one part of an 

 animal to another surely cannot have the same 

 effect as that of tying the animal to an outward 

 point, the driver's hands. 



877. The side bearing-rein is the only kind 

 that should be permitted off the race track. 

 (P. i43d.) I am glad to say that even this is 

 rapidly taking the place of the overhead check- 

 rein on the race track. When the side rein is 

 used for cwdinary driving it must be used quite 

 loosely (P. 496), so that the horse may, when 

 going up hill, lower his head so that the poll of 



his head is as low as his withers. When the 

 driver is always sitting behind the horse, as in 

 private carriages, there is, as a rule, no reason 

 at all for using the bearing-rein. On the race 

 track it has been found that several horses have 

 almost suffocated themselves by getting their 

 heads down while in motion ; the check-rein in 

 these cases has allowed freer use of the horse's 

 lungs and larynx. So in cases like these the 

 rein should be used. 



But with ordinary driving horses the driver 

 supports the horse's forehand, if necessary, from 

 his seat. Bad drivers think it horsemanlike to 

 drive with a tight bearing-rein. As a matter of 

 fact, a poor driver is considerably helped with 

 the check-rein, and therefore it would be to his 

 credit to drive without it, because difficult horses 

 may cause an indifferent driver considerable 

 trouble if this mechanical assistance is not used. 

 Most advocates of bearing-reins are poor drivers 

 and have bad " hands " ; if they had good hands 

 they would understand the harm bearing-reins 

 generally do. 



But with delivery horses, as in P. 496, 

 where the horse is left standing unattended, a 

 loose check-rein is often advisable to prevent the 

 horse from getting his head down and eating 

 grass or snow, and possibly treading on the reins 

 and causing further trouble. The loose check- 

 rein (which must not be the overhead check) 

 will allow the horse full freedom in lowering 

 his head when pulling up hill, but will stop him 

 from getting his head down and getting into 

 trouble. 



878. Thousands of horse-power of energy 

 are lost daily by the use of bearing-reins of 

 various kinds. The London Anti-Bearing-Rein 

 Association has done a great deal of good in 

 stamping out the tight bearing-rein on carriage 

 horses. These are only put on for show and to 

 help the mutton-fisted coachmen. The society 

 has also been the cause of many large horse- 

 owning firms in England giving up the use of 

 the bearing-rein or hame-rein. The London 

 omnibus and cab companies never used these 

 appliances, because they wished to get as much 

 as possible out of their horses, and they well 

 knew that a bearing-rein would hinder them. 

 Of course, there are horses that require them 

 loosely for the first day or two of their training, 



331 



